Silence
by PSI-Triforce
Summary: Link has only ever needed silence to communicate, because sometimes, it's all you need to say, but one night hunting for a mysterious wolf could change everything. TP Oneshot. LinkxIlia


"Everyone quiet!" screamed the mayor, Bo, as the town meeting began. Ilia sat next to him, bored out of her mind, as she looked around the room to see who else was there. Rusl and Uli were there, but Uli was distracted with her newborn son. Sera was also there, but she was petting her cat. Sitting on her other side was Fado, who still smelt of goats, and sitting opposite Ilia was Link. Ilia smiled when she saw Link, then immediately turned away, afraid that he had seen her.

There were only two things that Ilia knew about Link. One was that he was always ready to help people. Whether there was a stray pet that needed catching, or some goats that needed herding, Link was always willing to give up his time, and in return, he'd usually get nothing more than a quick 'thanks' but he still did it. Link was the most generous person Ilia knew.

The other thing about Link was unspoken; literally. He never said a word. Occasionally, when showing the children how to fight, he would let out a battle cry, and when he saw something shocking, he would gasp, but Link had never said a single word in his life. She didn't know how, but he could say anything he wanted just by his eyes. The expression on his eyes was so changeable that he could express any feeling or ask any question. However, Ilia's thoughts were interrupted when Bo slammed his fist down on the table. He only did this when he was angry, and needed people to stop chatting.

"People, we need to focus on the problem here," he began, pausing to make sure everyone was listening before continuing "There's been a wolf problem lately. A wolf has been spotted outside our town on separate nights. Some of us have heard it howling, but few of us have seen it. This wolf is a danger to our children and our livestock. I propose that we hunt it down tonight, and kill it."

A few murmurs of agreement went up, but Ilia instinctively looked towards Link. He had raised his eyebrows at Bo, and he seemed to be asking, "That seems a bit drastic, doesn't it?"

Bo spotted Link's expression and replied, "Now Link, I know that this wolf hasn't hurt anyone yet, but we can't take that chance. We can't wait until it has a goat or a child in it's teeth before agreeing that it's time for action."

Link put his eyebrows down, but folded his arms, which stated, "I think we can. If we kill every animal that wanders past our village, we'll get a reputation of nature-haters."

Bo sighed. Link often objected to his plans, and he was getting tired of it.

"Link, this isn't just an animal, it's a wolf. Wolves are known for being bloodthirsty, dangerous animals!"

Link cocked his head to one side, meaning "When was the last time a wolf attacked someone in Ordon Village?"

Bo was speechless for a few seconds, then eventually stuttered out, "There have been no attacks in the history of Ordon Village, but I for one want to keep it that way!"

"I've seen the wolf!" Ilia interrupted, making Link and Bo turn and look at her. Ilia felt herself blush under Link's gaze, but continued.

"One night, I heard a few noises outside and went to investigate. It was the wolf, and it was singing. It was really amazing, but when I found it, it took one look at me and ran away. It seemed scared."

"Ilia," Bo interrupted, "That could have been any wolf."

"No, it's the one around the village, because I saw it again. I heard it howling again one night, and I went to see it. This time, I hid in some bushes and it didn't see me. It really was amazing to watch."

"Ilia, this isn't about how much you like-"

Link interrupted Bo by holding his palm up, before leaning on the table towards Ilia and turning his head again. "Tell me about the wolf."

Ilia was nervous about having every member of the meeting looking at her, but Link's smile calmed her down.

"Well, it was an average sized wolf… it howled perfectly, like a song… and…"

Ilia looked back up at Link and remembered something.

"- it had beautiful blue eyes, like Link's."

Ilia blushed when she realised what she had just said about Link's eyes, but Bo quickly interrupted again.

"Ilia, it doesn't matter how well a wolf can sing, it's still a threat!"

"No it isn't, it was peaceful!"

"Ilia," Bo sighed, "I don't like hurting animals any more than you, but you have to understand, if this wolf gets angry and comes to the village, lives could be at stake. Can't you understand that?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then it's decided. Rusl, you and I will go into the woods tonight and track down this beast."

"No! Why am I even here if you won't listen to me?" Ilia shouted.

"You have to be here, you're the daughter of the mayor," replied Bo calmly. "I'm sorry, but we need to take care of this wolf."

"What if I prove it's peaceful? If I can find it and prove it won't attack anyone, will you let it live?"

Bo spluttered and roared, "There's no way I'm letting a daughter of mine track down a dangerous wolf!"

Ilia couldn't think of a response. She desperately looked around, then heard a noise. Link had tapped on the table, and was now pointing towards himself, meaning, "I'll go."

"Fine, Link will try and find the wolf. But you only have one day!" Bo reluctantly said.

"What if I go with him?" chirped in Ilia. Bo looked at his daughter's face and realised that there was no way she would take no for an answer.

"Fine, you may go with Link. But it must be done tonight. Meeting dismissed!"

Bo stormed out of the meeting, while Ilia let out a small cheer for joy, until she realised that Link was leaving too. Standing up and chasing after him, she caught up with him soon and started asking him about their plan.

"So, what are we going to do?"

Link turned to face her as she walked alongside him. His eyes seemed to say, "I don't know, what do you think?"

Ilia panicked for a second, then suggested, "Why don't we meet each other at nine? I'll come to your house."

Link winked, and Ilia knew he meant, "It's a date."

Ilia giggled as Link started to walk back to his house. Although she and Link were close friends, she had never been out with just him before, and living in such a small village, there were no other boys her age. She still played with Colin, Malo and Talo, but they were much younger than her.

When Ilia went back to her house, she stared at the clock excitedly, waiting for the minutes to tick by. She barely ate the dinner Bo set out for her, and eventually, when the clock struck nine, Ilia ran as fast as she could to Link's house. He was already waiting outside with his sword and shield ready. He turned around as he heard Ilia coming and smiled at her.

"Ready?" his eyes said.

Ilia nodded, and they set off into the woods together. Every once in a while, a loud noise would startle Ilia and she would grip Link's arm tightly, but when she looked into his calm blue eyes, they calmed her down. Ilia tried to calm herself down more by describing the wolf.

"I really hope you see him Link, he has this amazing way of howling out tunes, and his eyes are just like your's."

Link smiled back at her, but Ilia couldn't tell what his expression was saying. The bad thing about being silent was that it was always easy for someone to tell when you were trying to hide something.

"Link, what are you hiding?"

Link shrugged, but then held up his hand, signalling Ilia to stop. Without turning around, he pointed to the ground she was standing on, meaning that she should stay there, before he quickly ran into the woods. There was a 5 second silence, until Ilia heard rustling ahead of her.

"Link?" she whispered nervously, only for another sight to greet her. The majestic wolf slowly prowled up to her, as Ilia gasped and slowly approached it. She was still a little bit scared of it, but it seemed to be smiling. Ilia felt her anxiety grow as it approached her until it was at her feet, at which point it rubbed up against her legs like a dog. Ilia felt relieved and smiled as she bent down to stroke the wolf. It nuzzled it's head against her and let out a soft, friendly growl. Unfortunately, Ilia had something else in mind.

"Link, Link, come quickly! The wolf is here!" Ilia spoke out, not wanting to whisper in case Link didn't hear, but not wanting to scream in case she scared the wolf away. However, Ilia's face fell as Link didn't come. The wolf suddenly bolted out of Ilia's arms, startling her into letting out a small scream, as it ran away. Ilia began to run after it, but stopped in case Link came back. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Link came back through the forest. Ilia immediately told him that she'd seen the wolf, but somehow, he didn't seem surprised.

"Link, it was more beautiful than ever. You have to see it!"

Link smiled at Ilia, as if to say, "Don't worry, I'll keep looking," and they did. For a few hours, they went around the woods, and every so often, Link would stop Ilia, disappear, and then the wolf would come back. Ilia loved seeing it, but was always disappointed that Link was never around when it happened. Beginning to feel suspicious about where Link was going, she decided to follow him the next time he felt the need to explore alone.

It didn't take long for Link to find another spot where he declared Ilia should stay while he investigated, so Ilia waited a few seconds, then ran after him. She didn't worry about noise, because Link was always noisy running through trees, so she doubted that he would have heard. After a few seconds of frantic running, Ilia had to stop to catch her breath, and spotted Link.

Standing quietly in the woods, Link seemed to be concentrating on something. Ilia watched him from a distance, and couldn't believe her eyes when he became engulfed by shadow. She raised a hand to her mouth to stop herself from screaming, and watched as the shadow form of Link slowly changed shape until it was crouched with four legs on the ground. The shadow lifted, but it wasn't Link any more. It was the wolf.

However, as soon as Link became the wolf, he recognised a scent. Looking directly at Ilia, he yelped loudly in shock and retreated a few steps. Ilia quickly rushed out of her hiding place towards the wolf, and saw it's nervous paws, it's shaking ears, and it's bright blue eyes.

Bending down, Ilia began to pet the wolf again in an attempt to calm Link down.

"Link, how did you do that?"

As Link had always communicated with his eyes, Ilia had no trouble understanding his response.

"It's a power I got on my quest."

Ilia had calmed Link down, but she still had a question for him.

"I don't understand, why would you want to be a wolf?"

Wolf-Link's eyes welled with tears as they looked down at his mouth. Ilia understood.

"I never talk when I'm a human, but when I'm a wolf, I can howl and sing and say whatever I want. I'm free."

Ilia smiled at the wolf and for the first time, hugged it. She understood now that Link wanted to speak, but couldn't.

"Link, I think you should turn back into a human again."

The wolf nodded, but before he could do anything, Ilia heard a loud voice saying "There it is!"

Ilia turned around in time to see Bo charging through the forest towards her, and she screamed. Turning around, she urged Link to run, but Rusl was already on his other side. Ilia panicked as her father gave a battle cry and charged at the wolf.

"Father, stop!"

"Ilia, get away from that wolf, you could get hurt! I thought Link was protecting you!"

"Father, the wolf is peaceful!"

Link had now grabbed Ilia's leg out of fear and was whimpering like a puppy. Ilia put a protective hand on Link's back and held him.

"Ilia, that beast could turn savage at any moment! Step away from it and Rusl will take care of it!"

"Father, you can't do this!"

Bo had lost his patience and lunged for the animal when a sudden sound stopped him. Looking down, Ilia could see that the wolf was leaning back with his beautiful blue eyes closed, and he was singing. They stood there for minutes, while the wolf howled a mournful tune. Rusl put down his weapon, and Ilia stroked the wolf while he sang. Bo was still cautious, but he changed his mind when he saw tears glistening down the wolf's mane. The wolf was crying.

When the wolf eventually stopped, it looked up at Bo with round blue eyes and whimpered. Bo raised his hand violently, but when he lowered it, it was to stroke the wolf's head. Bo then pointed away from them, hoping that the wolf would understand, and commanded, "Go."

The wolf didn't need to be told twice as it ran off fast, leaving Bo with a grateful Ilia and Rusl.

"Dad, thank you," stuttered out Ilia, hugging her father.

"I didn't do it for you," replied Bo quietly, "I did it for Link. I don't know why, but that wolf reminds me of him."

"Me too Dad, me too."

Seconds later, Link frantically ran up to the small crowd panting, looking around as if he was asking if he'd missed anything. Bo simply told Link that he'd 'tell him what happened some day' whereas Rusl wanted to get back to his house. Ilia chose to walk back to Link's house before going home.

Their hands brushed a few times on the way, and there was an awkward silence, but eventually Ilia whispered out, "You're just as beautiful now as you are as a wolf."

Link blushed and held Ilia's hand as they walked back to his house, but when they got to the door, Link wasn't ready to go in. Instead, he stood with Ilia for a few seconds before she realised what he was trying to do. He was trying to speak.

Eventually, Link opened his mouth, but Ilia held her hand up to it.

"Don't ever feel like you have to talk to us if you don't want to," she said, smiling. Link smiled back and pulled her into a hug, kissing her cheek. Ilia blushed more, but soon remembered that she had to get home.

"Goodnight Link," she said as she walked away.

"Goodnight Ilia. Thank you." She heard Link replying. Ilia blushed even more. They were the first words she had ever heard Link say. Turning around to see Link wave before heading into his house, Ilia headed back to her's, safe in the knowledge that her dreams that night would be filled with Link.


End file.
